Shot
by b0llyknickers
Summary: Regina Mills is a detective who finds herself somewhere she doesn't recognise. Plagued by her past and the need to work out what all of this means, she ends up working under DCI Robin Locksley, the 'nottingham lion'. Will she get home? Will she find the truth of her past? AU Outlaw Queen, with crime, adventure and mysteries. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is an Outlaw Queen story inspired by my favourite show Ashes To Ashes. It is AU through and through. If you have never seen Ashes to Ashes do not fret, it just means the storyline will be more of a surprise! Oh and if you enjoy this enough to get to the end of this chapter, just remember to trust me. ;) Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine.**

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"Hey Henry, what did Emma get you for your birthday?"

"The new Xbox! It's so good Mom, you can go online and play against other gamers!"

Regina chuckles at her son, his excitement making her smile, "Didn't you already have an Xbox?"

"Mum," he groans, "this is the new one!"

Regina's radio spurs into life then, ' _charlie seven five to DI Mills?'_

 _"_ Roger that?" Regina responds.

'G _unman taken female hostage, possibly armed.'_

Regina sighs heavily, confirms that she's on her way, u-turning her car as soon as she can.

"Henry, Henry, get the..get the thing." She motions to him, navigating her way through traffic.

"I've got it!" He replies, grabbing her siren light and reaching out of the window to place it on the car roof top.

Henry loves this, the heroics of his mum being a Detective Inspector, of catching the bad guys and putting them away.

Once they reach the river bank she parks, kisses Henry once on the crown of his head.

"Stay here okay?" Regina says against his hair, before giving him a final squeeze and leaving the car. She approaches the officer nearest her.

"Really Sergeant? I'm on Henry's school run, he's right there in the damn car!?" She snarls, but the officer doesn't let up.

"He asked for you by name Ma'am. Jefferson's his name. Frankly he'll do anything."

"What?"

"He says he'll shoot her if you won't talk to him."

She sighs, "Armed response?"

"On their way," he confirms.

She takes one glance back at Henry, and he's smiling at her. She nods once in the direction of the man in front of her, and makes her way through the crowd that have gathered.

In front of her is a man, possibly in his mid-thirties. He holds a crazed expression on his face, his eyes wild and searching, unsettling in ways she cannot comprehend. On his head is an elaborate top hat, and he wears a long dark coat. In any other situation his dress could almost be deemed amusing, probably would be so on someone else. But not on him, on him it's just…creepy. In his arms are a young women, this must be the busker, Regina thinks. She trembling, making fearful shrieks every time Jefferson makes a sudden move or speaks. He's holding a gun to her head, his hand gripping the weapon tightly, his knuckles white next to her temple.

 ** _Possibly_** _armed, my ass._ She thinks.

"You asked to speak to me Jefferson. I'm DI Regina Mills."

"I know who you are. Don't look at me. I don't like it."

"Okay, I'll avert my eyes. We can come to an agreement Jefferson, but first this young lady has to be let go. Then we.."

He interrupts her.

"Then we what? I'll kill her! I'll kill you."

The woman whimpers, Regina itches to help her, to give her some sign that she is going to be okay but she can't, not if she has to keep her eyes away from Jefferson.

"You know what…" Jefferson mumbles and then he's shoving the woman, setting her free. Part of Regina relaxes, _one step done._ Then the gun is in her direction, barrel aimed towards her. She lifts her arms, reminding him without words that she is unarmed.

"I can help you Jefferson, talk to me. Tell me what you want."

He seems even more unhinged. "Stop looking at me, I don't like it."

Then he notices the armed response officers, circling around them.

"I see them, I can see them. I knew you when you were little girl Regina. I'm happy, hope you're happy too."

These words ring alarm bells. Her parents? Those lyrics? It takes her back, a car journey, a flash of light.

"What?"

"Yeah, I'm happy" Jefferson sings then, "hope you're happy too."

Suddenly Regina hears Henry's cry of "mum!" and he is running towards her. Jefferson is too quick for her, having seen him before she had. He grabs Henry, pulling him away.

"Hold your fire!" Regina screams, remembering the armed police officers surrounding them, her heart racing, her mind reeling. "Hold your fire!"

She darts her head from side to side, searching for any sign of Jefferson or Henry. Where had they slipped too?

Then she hears it.

It's loud, too loud. The sound echoing throughout her head. Her heart feeling like it had stopped.

A gunshot.

"Henry!" She cries, running down the street she thinks she has heard it come from.

"Henry?" She cries again, her eyes searching for him, anyone.

Then, miraculously, he comes round the corner, unharmed, if a little dazed.

"Mum?" he shouts, falling into Regina's arms, sobs racking though his body. Regina holds him as tight as she can, tight enough she could be hurting him. But she had nearly lost him, she holds him tight to make sure he's there, he's real and he's still in her arms. She soothes his tears, drawing patterns against his back, and when he is calmer she pulls away from him, leaving only their foreheads touching.

Regina stands with Henry, her arm draped across his shoulders, waiting for Emma. As much as Regina and Emma have had their differences since Henry wanted to track down his birth mother, she's totally useful for times like this. Times when Regina's job and being a single parent don't quite work, and Emma's flexible hours do. Henry's still quiet, still shaken from the morning.

"Emma's going to take you home, Henry," she soothes, her head resting against his, "I've got a stack of reports to do and…" He's sniffling then, and she turns herself so she's facing him. She takes in his tear stained face.

"Oh, Henry…" Regina sighs, before pulling him into a fierce hug. He melts into her for a moment, then stiffens and pulls away.

"You could've got killed in front of me."

"I told you to stay in the car." She scolds him, remembering she still hadn't scolded him for leaving the car and putting himself in danger, but she keeps her tone soft. "There are dangers in this world, but together, we can face anything right?" She begins, but he's distracted, Emma's bug parking beside them.

"Emma!" He cries, running to her and hugging her tight.

"How you doing kid? I say we get cake and then I'll beat your ass on Mario as a birthday treat?" Emma teases, her hand running through Henry's hair.

"Wait for me and we'll blow the candles out together when I pick you up, okay?"

"Okay!" Henry agrees, nodding. Then he's climbing into the car.

"Y'alright Regina?" Emma asks, awkwardly lifting her arm to scratch her head.

Their situation still isn't easy, despite their best efforts for Henry's sake.

"Yeah, I think we're good. Think he's a little shaken still." Regina answers, shifting slightly on her feet.

"I'll keep an eye on him."

With that, Emma climbs into the car and starts the engine, leaving Regina on the pavement. As they pull away Regina blows Henry a kiss, one he imitates catching. _Still her baby._

Regina walks back to her car, taking in the events of the morning. Jefferson had claimed to have known her, her years on the job has her brain telling her not to believe what he said but he had set off alarm bells. She reaches her car, singing his words back to herself.

 _I'm happy, hope you're happy too._

Once in her seat, she turns to get her bag from the footwell behind her seat. Then, she gasps suddenly, recoiling back from the back seat, her heart thudding at a 100 mile per hour. For there, in her back seat, is Jefferson.

"Relax Regina, just drive." He instructs firmly, gun held in his grip, pointing at her for the second time this morning.

She does as she is instructed. Drives until he stops her, all the while stealing glances at him through her mirror. They reach the docks, and leave her car. He pushes her towards a boat, down a footbridge to embark on a small canal boat. Regina realises Jefferson has his phone in hand, and is now calling someone, unknown.

"Hello? I've got a piece of your past, standing right in front of me, Cora and Henry Mills' daughter."

Regina turns around at that, musters her courage.

"How do you know me?"

Jefferson doesn't answer, just shoves her down the footbridge.

Regina finds her strength again, doesn't turn around, but continues on; "they've been dead a long time you know. What could you possibly want?"

Jefferson just shoves her again. They enter the boat, and Jefferson indicates for Regina to sit. Inside the boat is all metal, from the floor to the ceiling. The sound of their footsteps echo along with Jeffersons voice on the phone.

"Yeah well, that's your problem." Jefferson tells the person on the other end and hangs up.

He turns his attention to Regina then, "I was part of an empire back in the day. We had dealers on every street corner."

Regina thinks back to the criminal psychology courses she had taken, desperately looking for the right words to say.

"And things went wrong? If you feel trapped I get that, those officers were itching for a fatality outcome.."

Jefferson doesn't let her finish.

Bang.

He shoots Regina straight in the head and the world in front of her goes black.

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 **Thank you for reading!**

 **I'm going to just say now, due to the Robin pain we all went through, Regina's not dead, it's an outlaw queen story after all!**

 **Please leave me your thoughts :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews and the follows! This story has been on my mind for a while now and your response makes me super happy! Here's the next little bit :) This is shorter than I like as a chapter (as was the first chapter) but I found a good place to split it up and went with it :')**

 **Also, there seems to be loads of mystery left unsolved, so bare with me and it'll come clear! Remember you're just as confused as Regina is right now ;)**

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Regina opens her eyes. She is lying on something soft, music beginning to fill her ears as she comes round. Vienna by Ultravox. She recognises it. As she rises from the makeshift bed she is on she realises she is on a boat, the feeling of the movement on the water obvious despite her confusion. As she leaves the room she enters the main section of the boat. She can see a great crowd of people. The ceiling is lined with fabrics and lanterns hang periodically. The crowd and the low ceiling give the whole space a claustrophobic feel. She makes her way through the people, them not seeming to have even noticed that she has been shot. The music seems to get louder, filling her senses, the space feeling smaller and smaller around her. She fights her way through the people, managing to find her way to the exit of the boat. She walks up the footbridge to the dock. Luckily uniform police officers seem to be heading her way, she grabs the nearest one, cries into his ears, pleads him to listen;

"Help me! I've been shot!"

The officer shoves her off, his intent to enter the boat. She tries another officer, claws at his jacket to get him to listen, although she is dismissed. A female officer follows, she tries her instead;

"I've been shot! Help!"

Even the female brushes her off, heading off towards the boat.

Regina runs forward, looking for anyone to help her. She looks ahead, is faced with a wall of Adam and the Ants posters. She turns to the glass reflection of the window next to it, notices her appearance.

 ** _What?!_**

On her feet are a pair of red stiletto heels, her legs, a pair of black thigh high stockings, the garter of which is clearly visible due to the length of the red dress she is wearing, a dress that scoops low and reveals a generous expanse of cleavage. Across her shoulders is a large dramatic white fur coat.

"How?" Regina mutters, she leans in to look at her head. Not a single gunshot wound can be found on her body. She remembers looking into Jeffersons eyes, and then watching the bullet come towards her. As if it was in slow motion, she saw it reach her, and she knew that that was the end, that moment. Now here she is, seemingly unharmed.

She doesn't have long to wonder though, suddenly she is being grabbed from behind.

"You called the police didn't you?" The man shouts in her face, accusing. She recognises the man from the boat, the boat she had woken up on. Too stunned still to answer the man's cries, she tries to walk away, but he blocks her path again, continuing to shout in her face.

A red car squeals to a halt next to them, and three men get out, aiming their guns towards the pair. The first man, is tall and slender, his hair short and dark. He is wearing a dark leather jacket, and he takes his place next to a second man. The second man is broad, with longer dark hair that curls and a beard adorning his chin. Despite the obvious height of the first man, he makes him look small in comparison. Both men look to the third, the obvious leader, waiting on his instruction. The third man is the one that captures Regina's attention, he is handsome, a chiselled face with a light stubble across his chin. His hair a sandy blonde and parted. As he aims his gun, he speaks;

"Today my friend, your diary entry will read, took a prozzy hostage and was shot by three armed bastards."

The man from the boat grabs her then, and she's struck by how the tables had turned. This morning she was the one facing a victim and a criminal, now she was the victim. Her mind reeling from the events, from being shot, from waking up in this place, dressed like this, she begins to ramble;

"Don't let this get out of control." She watches the three police take aim, "think, you have to be smart. If you choose a path of destruction driven by illogical pride and delusional self importance, you'll enjoy only a fleeting moment of pride before being shot and killed. A fatality outcome is what these officers are after."

She doesn't know where she is pulling this from, just knows it's stopping her from being in the middle of a sea of bullets between the two parties. She feels the grip on her loosening. She relaxes slightly, he gets it; if he pretends to be armed they have a reason to shoot him.

"Ah, you're right." He begins, "Don't shoot officers, I'm unarmed. This won't amount to anything Mr Locksley."

He approaches the handsome one, his hands raised in the air, signalling that he is unarmed. The officer gives him a blow to his stomach, winding him. As he bends over double, the officers cuff him, giving instructions into police radios which are huge, Regina notices. Bulky and black, looking like something of policing of days gone by, with a huge ariel.

The good looking officer speaks again then, "Will, get a cuppa for the lady, classiest pro we've had all week." As he says it he gestures the hand still holding the gun in her direction. She sees down the black hole of the barrel. Regina's mind whirls back to the boat. To being shot. To seeing the bullet and knowing _that_ was the end, that Henry had Emma and he was safe. Her thoughts spin, nothing had made sense since she had woken up. Her vision is spinning then, her thoughts betraying her senses. Spinning and spinning, the wheels turning but coming to no answers, then, it all goes black once more.

Regina opens her eyes, as her vision comes into focus she hears a voice, "I can see the attraction, if toms are your thing." Her eyes flutter, first she sees the faces of the two officers from before, one of which must be Will, she remembers that much. When the men notice Regina's consciousness they quickly step away from the car window they had been ogling her through, looking like two school boys caught doing something they shouldn't.

Regina climbs out of the car, and for the first time, properly takes in her surroundings. She knows she was shot, that was real. Is this a dream? She is outside a police station, that much is clear. But she can hear birds singing, can feel the cool breeze on her skin. She begins to babble, her mind spilling out; "it's a full sensory hallucination." She touches the car in front of her. "I can feel. I can feel everything." She looks to the road they are parked on. How to end this dream. How to get back? She notices a car coming.

She says one word.

"Henry."

She steps out in front of the car.

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 **Penny for your thoughts? x**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is an abnormally quick update for me but I feel like it's still too confusing and this answers a few questions. Ish.**

 **Please leave a review if you have any thoughts, they make me happy!**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine.**

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The handsome officer, Locksley, grabs her at the last minute. Strong hands coming around her, yanking her back to this world, keeping her trapped.

"Oh no you don't, you have any idea what the paperwork is like on suicides? Come here."

He bends, places one hand behind her knees, the other behind her shoulders, lifting her up. His hold around her grounds her, causes her spinning mind to still for a moment. Her breath hitches, she doesn't know what makes her feel like this, but it is the first time since Regina had been shot that she felt like someone was going to help her. That maybe, despite her having no idea where she is, where her family are, or how this has happened, there is hope that she is not alone.

He heads towards the front door of the police station, walks her through the corridors to a large office, here he sets her down. She takes in the space around her, the ceiling is a checkerboard of tiles, every other square a harsh light, giving the expanse of squares a black/white check. The space is littered with around 6 desks, and cupboards and filing cabinets line the walls. In the far left corner from the door is a kitchen area. The room is filled with men, other police officers, she guesses. At the top of the room is an office, separated from the rest of the desks by walls half made of glass but lined with blinds to give privacy. On the door of this office is the name DCI Robin Locksley, underneath which is a picture of the officer who had carried her in. Thumb-sized, just of his face. The picture has been stuck on a piece of paper and a mane has been drawn around it. Scrawled underneath are the words 'the Nottingham lion'. All eyes in the office are on her, and time seems to slow almost to a stop. She looks at the top office, and makes her decision.

She heads towards the office, hoping for a computer, hoping for some answers. She faintly registers a voice behind her, and the men laughing, but she doesn't take much notice. She sits at the desk, tries to activate the computer. The screen is tiny, the whole contraption is a huge bulky thing. When she manages to get the computer to respond she is answered with a black screen in green letters. The time and date.

3.26pm, 7th September 1981.

 **1981.**

She looks over to the paper also sitting on the desk, 1981. The calendar on the wall, 1981.

 ** _What?!_**

"It's…it's 1981. It's…the year my mum and dad died."

"What of?" She hears the strong tone of that officer again. "Confusion?"

"There's nothing on this but the time and date."

"Pong, it's got Pong."

A face appears at the door, a woman, with a young and kind face.

"Mary Magdeleine! Are you alright?" The woman asks her. "I brought you this."

She offers her a bright pink can, _Tab_ emblazoned across it.

"Tab?! Haven't you seen this one French? Likes a drop of Bolly before she takes her knickers off. Back to your seat."

The woman nods nervously, taking back the can and scurrying back to her desk outside the office.

She ignores him, leaves the office again. Heads to the empty desk near the door.

"I've studied this, the mind fashions links to the real world." Regina says, mostly to herself. If this is a hallucination she's covered this, way back in psychology before she focused solely on criminal psychology. She reaches for the telephone, speaks into it in a hushed tone.

"Hello? I've been shot. I need to find out if I'm in hospital…" She begins but is interrupted, the phone being snatched out of her hand and hung up.

"I need a bloody statement."

Regina, ever persistant, ever stubborn, reaches for the phone again, he tries to intercept, the movement causing her to knock off what was sat on the front of the desk. She drops to her knees in front of him, picking up the fallen item. It is a small metal stand, indicating the name of the person who owns the desk. Still on her knees, she looks at it, disbelieving.

 **DI Mills**

She doesn't move, can't move.

She hears one of the police officers, make a low disbelieving sound. Another one muttering; "I love toms."

Regina looks up at the officer she is knelt before, notices their position, and he seems to as well, because he grabs the name plaque out of her hands and places it on the desk, before yanking her up roughly. His insistence again that he _needs_ a statement. The movement jostles her, causes a small wallet to fall out of the inside pocket of her coat. She looks down at it, still too stunned from the name plaque to move. He picks that up as well, but this time he looks at it, takes in the front. He opens it, squinting at the inside, his eyes crinkling at the edges, then hands it back to her open.

A 1980's police warrant card. With her name on it. With her picture inside. With her signature printed across.

"So we're all waiting on a new DI, Detective Inspector Mills." The officer addresses the room.

"Oh is he here then?" The taller, more bearded member of the two police from earlier asks.

The first one gestures to her, "DI Regina Mills."

"What?!" The taller one protests.

Regina is still staring at her warrant card, taking it in. She lifts her head to look at him, shows him the card, confirming that yes, she was the detective they were expecting and no, she didn't understand it either.

Regina takes herself to the kitchen, turns on the TV there, flicks through the channels. Sure enough, news from the 80's, police riots, Zippy and George.

"Come on Zippy, talk to me." She mumbles, willing her theory to work, willing her mind to make the connections it needs to make.

"Never anything on." A voice speaks from behind her. She turns around to face it. Him, the only one in all this who had, for a moment, made sense, even though she couldn't understand why.

She's since learned he is DCI Robin Locksley, the tall one they call Little John, and the third is Will. Little John, she's realised already has an air of hostility around her. Robin is the one who intrigues her though. When he speaks he's a 1980's construct through and through, and she's impressed with her mind for having made him so historically accurate even in her dream world. Although, she knows he is the one who carried her through when it had clearly been too much, the one who hasn't made a single comment about her being a female DI in 1981, a feat the others haven't managed. Maybe Robin's bravado is just that, a front.

"The public hate you." Regina notes, gesturing to the riots on the TV.

"They hate us, inspector." He corrects her, "twat in the cells from the boat is Eric Whale. He's coming up to interview, you want to sit in?"

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 **If you have any questions drop me a message or leave me a review! Thank you for reading x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's another update because I'm on holiday and I have writing time and felt the urge to update because it was all just sitting there ready :)**

 **Enjoy! and thank you if you're still with me through the confusion!**

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"Make you feel good does it? Making honest kids into druggies and rent boys?" Robin interrogates Whale, while the latter sits in his seat, a smug expression across his face.

"Firstly, you have absolutely no evidence, and secondly, according to this senior female officer, you were looking for…what was it? A fatality outcome: blowing my head off. Ipso facto, my case rests." Whale explains, still as smug as anything.

"That's crap!" John bursts out, "if we wanted to blow your head off we'd come round in the middle of the night and we'd…" Robin interrupts him.

"Take no notice of my Sergeant. He's very upset, his Mother's ill in hospital."

Regina notices from the corner she's stood in that Robin has made a valiant effort to stand on John's foot under the table to stop him from continuing. John takes the hint. Threatening to kill an interviewee does not go down well in front of said interviewee's lawyer.

"Yeah I'm…God, I hope she pulls through." John amends, feigning remorse for his mother.

"Yeah, bet you do." Whale answers, his smile only growing.

"For the record, you will retract that remark" Robin says, giving a nod to John before turning back to Whale. "Cocaine and Heroin and flooding into this city, and you my friend, are behind it."

"You're living in a fantasy world, Mr Locksley."

Regina, having had enough of watching her fantasy play out, leaves the interview room. She finds Will back in the office;

"Where do you keep the most advanced radios in the station?"

"I'll take you right too em, boss…erm ma'am." He answers, leading her out and through the station.

He stops at a door off of the corridor, stepping through and switching the lights on.

"Dadaa! Tomorrow's world innit, boss."

"Oh god." Regina is faced with a room full of yesteryears 'gadgets'. If they can even be called that any more. She looks across the shelves. "I need to know what's going on out there, Will. I think I'm unconscious. Unconscious and I need reviving."

"Yeah…I get that on weekends." Will answers, baffled by his new DI. "I'll leave you to it then."

She looks over the radios and the TVs, despairing that this could be her only line to the real world. She rakes through the radios, looking for anything that might help her. She hears the door open and close behind her. She hears his voice.

"What was that in there? We've got the makings of a drug epidemic in this city, I had the kingpin in my sights and _you_ gave him room to slide loose. What were you even doing on the boat anyway? Undercover or moonlighting?" Robin accuses her.

"Whale? He's not your kingpin." She scoffs. "Any cursory psycho assessment would show that he doesn't possess delegation inclinations. And as for what I was doing there, lets assume the former shall we."

"Sorry come again, I don't speak Spanish."

"Big crime lords expect their minions to do their donkey work. They expend their energy only when it's absolutely necessary. Crime lords don't gloat in police interviews, Robin. Crime lords don't spend money on expensive lawyers and then do all the talking."

"Is all this la-de-da clever stuff meant to impress me?"

They haven't realised it, but they've taken steps towards each other in the heat of their argument, causing them to end up almost nose to nose. Regina holds his stare for a moment, unwilling to back down. Then she laughs, her own fantasy, and she's arguing to prove she's right.

"Look at me, look at me. I am trained to get inside the criminal mind, and I'm stuck in my own with you! Whoopee!" Regina laughs deliriously, her situation too ridiculous to take seriously.

"Are you laughing at me?" Robin asks, offended.

"No, no. I Just never thought it would seem this real." She walks back towards him then, closes the space between them again. She hesitates, then presses her hand to his chest, over his heart. Then slides her fingers under his suit jacket, against his shirt. "It's beating, that's incredible."

Theres a beat when they're stuck there, her hand against his chest. She looks up and catches his eyes. They're a fascinating blue. She can see every detail on his face, the stubble on his chin and the way it hides dimples she can see now that she's this close. The lines at the sides of his eyes, memories of laughter gone by. The details she takes in are incredible and she's once again struck by how real this is. He breaks her gaze then, looking down, a hand rising to scratch his head awkwardly. Regina clears her throat, stepping away. She wanders off to the shelves again, the room around them filling with an uncomfortable silence.

Then she sees it, surveillance footage of Jefferson, even in 1981 only known by the one name. This cannot be a coincidence, this is her fantasy, her mind putting clues in here for her, everything is significant. She pulls the tape out, putting it into the TV and video set plugged in next to the collection of footage. Robin approaches behind her.

"Jefferson is a tinker with a minor record, we flip him over, keep our eyes open, we _don't_ bang him up."

Regina ignores him, watches the footage. A younger Jefferson, wandering along the docks, some shots of his face closer up.

"He has to be crucial to this, otherwise why is he in here?"

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 **Thanks for reading! Leave me a review if you would like! They make me happy. x**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's a little update for you. Enjoy x**

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Regina knows she needs to look at her situation, look for clues as to what is going on here. She knows she needs to note down everything that happens, knows that her mind could be leaving her clues in this fantasy. Knows that she can't get distracted, needs to focus on getting home, getting back to Henry.

She pulls out the whiteboard in the office, finding pens and gathering Will and Belle to help, she stands in front of the board. She's not entirely sure where to begin, when she got shot? That was the start of all this. Jefferson was the start of all this.

She suddenly feels sick, the sensation coming across her like a wave lapping against the shore. Regina breathes deeply; stilling the wave of nausea that comes across her, almost like motion sickness, but she is absolutely still. She is stood in front of a whiteboard in the office, Will and Belle having gathered to listen to her, although they're not entirely sure why.

"Boss? I mean…Ma'am?" Will begins, noticing her sudden discomfort.

Regina rights herself, "Right. Let's break it down. I was shot. The result of that act was my arrival in this…dystopia." She turns to the whiteboard, notes _Dystopia._

"Dystopia, I had that once, couldn't eat solids for a week." Will mumbles, earning him sympathy from Belle and an eye roll from Regina when her back is turned, _no, that isn't what dystopia means_ she thinks to herself.

"My mind creates a dark twisted place for me to go to, my brain is in severe trauma, therefore will not expend energy creating people I don't need, therefore, everything is significant." Regina turns to the white board again, noting _everything is significant._

She turns back to Will and Belle then, and continues; "I'm an empirical person, I break everything down and then study it, because that is how I solve problems."

"So your head has made a puzzle for you to solve?" Belle offers, "because that's the best way…"

"That is the way I'll get strong, I must constantly analyse." Regina turns back to the white board, noting _analyse_.

"Hang on, analyse what? Why you were shot?" Will asks, still entirely baffled by his new DI and fighting back a laugh.

Regina steps towards them, "the moment it happened, I saw the bullet and thought, this is it Regina. This is how it ends."

"Like this was your destiny?" Belle offers again.

Regina nods at Belle, turning back to the whiteboard and noting _destiny._ She hears Will mutter something about how it's like Ben Kenobi in Star Wars and she rolls her eyes again. When she's finished she sits back, looking over her notes.

"Now where does that leave me?"

Dystopia

Everything is significant

Analyse

Destiny

She stands and then feels herself swaying on the spot, her vision suddenly blurred, she lifts her palms and presses them into her eyes, attempting to stop the swaying and ground herself. Her blood feels like it is being dragged down, draining from her head, as if gravity is suddenly stronger than usual. Lights pop behind the black of her eyelids, her balance going even more off kilter. Then it is too much, she stumbles and then blacks out, hitting the floor hard.

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 **Leave me a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

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She wakes up, dazed. She can feel that she is horizontal, her hands grasp beneath her, she feels soft fabric. A sofa, she's on a sofa. She opens her eyes, brings her hands up and presses the heels of her palms into her eyes, willing her eyes to focus. When she opens her eyes again the room becomes sharper. It's decorated in bold block colours, opposite her is a wall of brick with a fireplace that is painted red. There's a TV, but it's old fashioned, looks like it would only show black and white pictures from the tiny screen. The sofa beneath her is shades of grey, striped. Theres a window on the grey wall behind her head, hung across which is a set of horizontal blinds, also in a bold shade of red. At the other end of this living room she can see the end of a kitchen; the home open plan. She drags herself up, swings her legs round until she can stand. She follows the room around to the kitchen, and there is a front door and another door leading off into a bedroom. The bedroom is a hideous shade of peach, and only holds a bed and a wardrobe. She looks in the wardrobe, finds it full of an adult man's shirts. She shuts the wardrobe doors again, her head, once again beginning to spin. The stress of the day and the grogginess from blacking out has her only wanting more sleep. She finally slips out of the ridiculous red dress she'd been wearing, and flops down onto the bed, sleeping like the dead.

When she wakes she realises she doesn't have any clothes, aside from the prostitute outfit from before. Regina sighs deeply, isn't being a female DI in 1981 in her own ridiculous fantasy enough without being subject to whatever comments continuing to wear this outfit is going to give her? She decides to make do, wearing the dress but covering the top half with one of the shirts form the wardrobe, tied at the waist. She grabs a blazer to wear on the top. It kind of works. She'll ask Belle for some clothes when she arrives to work. She laughs at herself then, _work?_ Looks like she's going to just live out this fantasy for a little while.

"WPC French…" Regina says as she walks into the office, heading straight for Belle's desk. Will is sat on the edge of it, talking with Belle, drawing giggles out of her. When he sees Regina he smiles;

"Morning Ma'am, like the flat? Luigi from the restaurant underneath lets us use it."

"Yes Will, thank you. WPC French…"

Belle interrupts her, "Call me Belle."

"Belle, can you get me some clothes please? I would like to change out of red before Chris De Burgh writes a song about me. Will, get me your intelligence on Jefferson, addresses, contacts, past offences."

"Roger that" Will says, nodding and heading back to his desk.

Robin is watching her from his office door, they hold each others gaze for a moment, before she turns and head towards her desk. He follows her.

"I know what you're doing." He accuses.

"Really? Whatever." Regina answers, feeling determined, knowing Jefferson is important. It had been Robin that had kept her here when she had gone to step out in front of that car, and Robin who had told her they would not arrest Jefferson. Whatever part of her mind he is, he seems to have the purpose of keeping her here, and she is not having it today.

"New broom, sweeps in, comes in. Looking to make a quick collar, trying to impress the troop." Robin tells her.

"I know he doesn't look like much, but Jefferson is behind this, because that is why I'm here," Regina dismisses him.

"Let me show you something." He leads her over to a desk on the other side of the room, points to a map of the city, pins and strings marking different key parts. "We have monitored the drugs trafficking across the division. Movement, payments…everything. The centre is here." He points to the map. "The financial district, now Whale is a right banker. He knows how to hide the drug money in any number of accounts."

Little John joins in then, "we're on the verge of a major bust."

Will joins them then, putting a folder down on the desk in front of Regina; "here you go boss…er, ma'am…er…Jefferson, this is his business in the district, past conviction for fencing a stolen vehicle." Will sifts through his file, leaving it open on a mugshot of Jefferson, his eyes averted from the camera, looking younger than the last time Regina had seen him, but still with the same unmistakeable eeriness.

Regina had been leant over the file as Will had flicked through, and when she straightens up she finds herself suddenly closer to Robin than before, the proximity startling her but not enough to back down.

"Look at your map, Locksley, it's a web. But the spider isn't sitting in the middle, he's hiding on the edge." Regina says, pointing to the map where Jefferson's furniture warehouse is located.

Regina walks with Will, having persuaded him to come with her to the warehouse to see Jefferson.

"The Guv's right, Jefferson is just a down at heels fella scratching a living together."

Regina disagrees, she knows, she's seen current Jefferson.

"No, he becomes that. One day, but not now, trust me." She heads into the warehouse, leaving Will behind. He scurries after her.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but the Guv, he thinks you're trying to undermine us." He explains, quickly.

She turns to him, just a little bit amused at the panic a woman taking control of their case has them all in.

"Look, just relax ok, Will. I know how it goes, Locksley's the leader, John's the misogynistic one, you're the nervous one." Regina explains, she's, in her head, created a stereotypical male group. "I don't care, I am going to stop Jefferson, because that could be the mental trigger to get me home."

"Roger that." Will replies, once again a little confused by his new DI. Then he adds, "I'm not nervous, I'm just cautious."

Then Regina hears his voice.

"Hello?"

Jefferson is all smiles. Regina's breath goes short, she is unable to speak. She feels herself going lightheaded again, suddenly getting the motion sickness feeling again, despite the fact she's standing still. She is determined to keep grounded. Will must notice her lack of response because in her silence he warns Jefferson they are police. Her breath rushes in and out in short bursts, Jefferson is different, clearly younger, and slightly more put together.

"Can I help you?" He asks, looking between them.

Regina sees the gun, sees his expressionless face surrounded by the metal of his boat. She sees the bullet, hears the bang. The room is swaying, swaying like the boat she was on when she was shot. Her hand rises to her head, feeling where the wound should be.

"You're under arrest." She blurts out, fighting to keep her voice strong.

"Arrest?" Jefferson gives a short laugh in disbelief. "What for? I've got receipts for all this stuff."

"I'm stopping you. I know you." Regina replies, pointing at him, keeping her focus on him to avoid the swaying of the room around her.

"What you talking about?"

Regina cannot have him step any closer, not if she wants to stay up right.

"Will, cuff him."

Will does as she asks, steps behind him and snaps the cuffs on. Jefferson watches Regina, their eyes locked. Then he speaks;

"Don't look at me like that. I don't like it."

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 **Leave me a review or send me a message if you have any thoughts x**


	7. Chapter 7

**I've been feeling bit meh about this story for a little while and haven't written a whole lot, but I had this sitting waiting so, yeah. Here you go.**

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She sits across from him at the interview table. He's uncomfortable, nothing like the smug air that Whale had about him. But not uncomfortable enough to be making mistakes, his discomfort seems to stem from confusion as to why he is being interviewed, as opposed to actually being guilty, something that riles Regina even more. She crosses her hands on the table, keeps herself stoic, firm, in control.

"You have a network of drug dealers and money launderers under your control including Whale."

"I'm a barrow boy, with a junk shop" He leans towards Regina, "you know that."

"You are under arrest, and you're staying here." Regina tells him, maintaining eye contact.

"As much as it pains me, I think we need something that may stick in court, 'you're staying here' probably won't do it." Robin tells her. She spins her head to look at him, her eyes narrowing at his unwilling to help her. "Mr Jefferson, do you have an appointed brief?"

"No, I'll have to get one." Jefferson says, relaxed, his hand rising to scratch at his head.

"Yeah that's right, you let others handle it. The actions of a powerful man with nothing to prove." Regina accuses him, ignoring Robin. Jefferson laughs slightly at that, and all it does is wind Regina up more.

"A powerful man would bring his brief in here with him." Robin says, looking at Jefferson, but aiming his words at Regina.

Suddenly the door opens behind them, John popping his head in;

"Guv, we've had a break through."

"Right. Jefferson, you're free to go." Robin tells him, ignoring Regina further. Jefferson breathes a relieved thanks and gets up to leave, Regina follows him, watching as he walks down the corridor and turns the corner. She heads back to the office, finds Robin and the team grouped together, discussing.

"We put the crime squad onto Whale like you said, he made 9 separate phone calls from phone boxes in the city, all phone cards." John explains.

"Phone cards?! Flash git." Robin comments.

"Yeah, he then went and picked up a message from some railway arches near the tower bridge. Something got him rattled." John continues.

"I know what got him rattled, we pulled his boss in, he was looking to see if he could close down the supply line." Regina tells them. John and Robin exchange glances, a look that Regina doesn't miss. "Jefferson is a control freak, being in the driving seat is essential to his emotional wellbeing."

Robin turns to her then;

"Where do you learn this hippie crap?"

"Langley, Virginia, techniques of the CIA." The office give a sarcastic 'ooooh' in response and Regina rolls her eyes, ignoring them and heading over to her desk. Belle approaches, cardboard box in arms.

"Here you go ma'am, new clothes like you asked for." She tells Regina, giving her a smile.

"Thanks Belle." Regina says, beginning to look through the box. Then she looks back at Robin. "Bring Whale in again, shake the web, Jefferson will hate that."

"Psychiatry." Robin says with a nod.

"Psychology." Regina corrects.

"Same thing." Robin answers. Regina just rolls her eyes. "Right, it is precisely 12 o'clock. By 12.30 I want Whale and his suspected accomplices in custody, mush."

Whale is stood in the corridor when Regina, Robin and John go to meet him. His former smug expression has faltered slightly, his cool mask having slipped.

"Two arrests in two days. I've almost certainly lost my job at the bank."

"Oh bugger," Robin says, his face firm, his tone sarcastic. "Still, you're a smart man, I'm sure you can get another one."

Whale nods slightly, looks between the three of them.

"Okay…time to talk turkey."

"Gobble away." Robin answers, causing John to give a little scoff before he can control himself.

"Oh that's very good Mr Locksley." Whale says as they begin to walk towards the interview room. Then he looks at Regina and John, stops again. "Oh no, Mr Locksley. Just you."

Regina and John are left behind then, watching until Robin and Whale emerge from the room 10 minutes later. Whale approaches them, looks between them, his smug mask back in place.

"Thank you, Mr Locksley, ladies." He gives them a small grin, then walks out. Regina looks to Robin expectantly.

"He's given us the whole network: suppliers, dealers, drop offs. We turn a blind eye to one last deal, and then we run them out of town, forever." Robin explains.

"And you let Whale off. That's just plain wrong Robin." Regina tells him.

There's a moment when he considers her, he lets out a breath, watching her, making his decision.

"Spot of lunch?"

Regina looks at John who agrees;

"Lunch."

"Lunch? It's gone 6!" Regina protests. Robin simply shrugs.

"Lunchtime."

Regina watches them go. She's not going to be sitting down now, not when Jefferson could be let slip. She knows, Jefferson could be her ticket out of here. Putting him away seems to be the mental trigger to wake her up, putting him away now could prevent him from shooting her in the future. She makes her decision, decides to go back to the warehouse, she can get some information out of him. She decides she's strong enough now, strong enough to face him, to wake up.

She heads back to his warehouse, calls out his name once, receives no answer. She walks through the junk, looking for him. She finds his office at the far end, but he's not there. She looks across his desk, mainly junk. The whole warehouse is like a junk yard. She looks across to his notice board, she notices a small notebook pinned up. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense; just times and codes. She keeps it though, feeling like there might be something missing that she's not quite realising. She notices the time from a clock on the wall, decides it's getting late. She better get going, happy to have not bumped into Jefferson again, especially now that she has taken something from his office.

She looks through the clothes given to her, she grimaces at some of it, so very clearly 80's and so very clearly not _her._ It's all block colours or neons. After rooting through she decides on a pair of back skinny jeans with a high waist, flattering. On top she wears a blue off the shoulder top, tucks the flowing material into the jeans, gives it a clean tailored line. On top of that she chooses the white leather jacket, it's a little bold, but if she's going to dress 80s she decides she's going to have a little fun with it. On her feet she chooses a pair of black heeled boots, nice and simple. She takes a look in the mirror, happy with her appearance, a smile spreading over her face at how extremely not Regina Mills this is. She likes it though, she feels more free than she has in months, more alive.

She heads downstairs, having found out that not only do her co-workers have enough access to this flat to be allowed to lend it to her to stay in, but they also frequent the Italian restaurant downstairs. She walks through the door, sees Robin, and their eyes meet. He gives her the once over, her change of outfit seemingly having stopped him in his tracks. She suddenly feels self conscious, and she doesn't know why. This man has argued with her and repeatedly ignored her insistence in Jefferson since she got there, and now she's feeling self conscious under gaze. She bites her lip. Robin stands, grabs a glass and pours from the bottle of red wine on his table. She takes the hint, walks over and sits down next to him, taking the glass from his fingers.

Once sat down she notices the rest of the team are across from them, on another table, laughing between them, making jokes with Luigi behind the bar. She watches them, giggling at their interaction. She watches Belle and Will, watches him make ridiculous jokes, telling Luigi "grassy arse!" Only to have Luigi tell him, his thick Italian accent exasperated, "that is a Spanish joke." She watches Belle giggle at him anyway, only encouraging him. Regina watches John, his clear disappointment at Will's sole attention being Belle. She learns the dynamics, so clearly established between the group.

A lot of glasses of wine later, Regina's eyes feeling heavy, her face slumped against her hand. She feels foggy and loose limbed. Her voice comes out to Robin low and slurry.

"You know, I invented this world." She gestures around clumsily. "I invented this place, and you, I invented you, and you won't even do what I want."

"Don't start with me, I'm the Nottingham Lion, it says so on me door." Robin answers, slightly less intoxicated but just as loose, just as slurry.

They both sway slightly in their seats, coming closer towards each other, both leaning their heavy heads on their hands, elbows resting on the table. They're almost nose to nose before Regina speaks again.

"You're not keeping me here forever."

"I might like your company, sometimes." He replies.

"M'going home. M'going to my little boys birthday party." Regina tells him, moving away, sitting back in her seat, cradling her glass of wine.

"You're pissed."

"And you, are a bloody figment of m'imagination."

"You're very pissed."

She takes another sip of her wine, but it tastes bitter in her mouth, she can't drink anymore. She places it back down on the table, with a little more force than she intended, causing it to clatter and subsequently, her to giggle. Robin smiles at her, his face lit warmly by the candle glow in the restaurant. Regina feels self conscious again, feels exposed. She lifts her hand to her mouth.

"M'gonna be sick." She admits, her eyes glancing down, avoiding him.

"Doesn't surprise me."

"Need to go to bed."

"Come on then." Robin says, helping her up, his arm slung around her. He ignores the stare from John, guides her out the door and up the stairs to her flat. She fumbles at the door, and once through, she stumbles a few steps before collapsing down on her sofa with a groan. He follows her, sitting on the floor with his back against the sofa. She reaches her hand out to him, touches his shoulder.

"Let me deal with this on my own." She mumbles to him.

"Why? It's always more fun with two." Robin jokes, turning to look at her and give her a grin.

"I don't need your help."

"Everyone does." Robin says, suddenly serious. "You know, they're sharpening the axe, coppers like me. But I'll tell you this Bolls, up until the last second, I will be out there making a difference."

"I really am going to be sick." Regina tells him, having turned herself onto her front. Robin turns to look at her then, notices the notebook shoved in the back pocket of her jeans. He grabs it, flicking through.

"What's this?"

"Jefferson's, from the warehouse."

Robin flicks through some more, then he closes it shut. He gets up, grabs the throw from the end of the sofa and puts it across her like a blanket. He heads back downstairs to the rest of the team, sits down next to John. Passes him the notepad.

"What do you make of this?"

"Flight numbers, codes?" Robin takes the book back off him, flicks through it, finds the page he is looking for.

"What about this, 'Charlie'?"

"Well, that's what they call Cocaine."

"Well here's me thinking it was bloody perfume." Robin jibes. Will has gotten up and turned the volume of the Italian music up on the stereo, messing around, making Belle giggle.

"Will! Will, turn it down, let the lady sleep." Robin's protest earns him a look from John but he ignores it, his mind whirring with thoughts of Regina and Jefferson.

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 **Thoughts? x**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's an update!**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine.**

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Regina nudges Henry, nudges her hips against him. He doesn't move, she nudges him again, still half asleep.

"Go on Henry." She mutters, her words slurry from sleep. Henry still doesn't move. "Henry, go on, back to your own bed." She nudges him with her hips again, then she feels him rise, pulls the cover away from her sleeping form for a moment before they fall back to her when he's gone.

Henry.

 _Henry._

Regina opens her eyes wide, sits bolt upright suddenly. Realises she's still on the sofa, still in this flat. Still not home. Just a dream. A dream that reminds her that her baby is waiting for her at home, and she needs to get back there. She drops her head into her hands, letting out a deep sigh, a tear slips out, caught quickly by the hands rubbing at her face, almost willing herself to wake up and go home. But home doesn't come.

She speaks in a small voice then, a message just for Henry, a message to make sure he knows she's okay.

"You wait for me Henry. I need a plan to trap Jefferson. Trap Jefferson and then I can come home."

She falls back to sleep, plagued by unnerving dreams that keep her sleep restless, but enough to sleep off anything resembling too much of a hangover. When she comes into work the next morning she looks over the case files. She knows she's just got to find something that will help them catch Jefferson in the act, that's what is going to help her go home. The only solid information they have is what Whale gave them in return for his freedom, although she knows none of that could incriminate Jefferson, they're too smart for that. She looks at the notes from his interview, there's a list of dealers. They could bring one in? They would probably all be too under Jefferson's thumb to reveal any information. She flicks through some more, finds the message drop offs. How could she work with that? She thinks. Surely if a message was left in a spot Whale revealed to them someone would pick it up? What if they left a message explicitly for Jefferson, see if he came to get it, that could be the connection they need to prove he's behind all this.

She recruits Will and Belle, they seem most willing to follow her leads, gets them to go over to the message drop off, with a fake message, tells them she'll keep in contact via radio.

She radios across, checking up on the pair;

"Will, are you in position?"

There's a fumble, and then Will's voice comes across the radio.

" _Roger that ma'am. You said you'd square this with the Guv over brekkie?_ "

She doesn't need Robin, doesn't need him if he's not going to help her.

"I don't have time for that Will, I have to nail Jefferson now. Look we got the drop off point for Whale's messages, are you at it?"

" _Yeah._ "

"Okay, message in place?"

" _Belle has just set it up_."

Regina sighs, "if they take the bait…"

" _They'll read the fake message, to meet at Jefferson's place, and we follow them._ " Will continues.

"That'll prove Whale works for Jefferson, and we'll have reasonable connection, we arrest Jefferson, and then I go home."

" _Roger that ma'am._ "

Regina waits, watches the clock tick, Jefferson's file open in front of her, his eyes staring out from his mug shot. She glances down at it, frowns, then closes the file, his face now hidden from view. She reaches for her radio again, calls out for Will. There's no answer, she tries again. She sighs heavily at the way she is lacking in technology here, totally helpless. She gets up, makes herself a coffee and returns to her desk, her radio having still not made a peep. When she sits back at her desk, the door of her office slams open, and in comes Will, panting heavily and completely panic-stricken.

"Is every radio in this place knackered? They've taken her, they've taken Belle." Will turns to Regina, "Whale and some big bodyguard bastards."

John speaks across the room,

"Tuck, mobilise all units in the area, give us the description of the vehicle…" He gets to work with the rest of the team, officers gathering round. Regina looks back to Will, his eyes still on her.

"If she dies, it's all your fault boss." Will tells her, accusingly. Regina goes to speak but he interrupts her, "just…just how do we stop them?"

There's a noise from Robin's office at the top of the room then, a chair scraping. None of the team have seen or heard him all day, and the noise causes them all to look up towards his door, silence falling across each member of the team. His door slams open, the picture of bravado.

"Right, lets fire up the quattro."

Regina rolls her eyes, of course if she was going to create a stereotypical male for her fantasy he would have a love for cars, a certain bright red Audi in particular. It's the car he had been in when they had 'saved' her from Whale right at the beginning of this mess. A 1980s red Audi Quattro rally car, as loud and garish as the name suggests.

Once Robin, Regina, Will and John are piled in, they speed off, taking the streets by force. They receive a radio message from Tuck;

" _We've had confirmation, the registration Will gave, the car is in Jefferson's name._ "

Regina feels a smile growing across her face, this is it, it's coming together now. Robin grabs the radio, answering Tuck;

"Get me everything you've got on Jefferson."

" _It isn't much Guv, just some surveillance. Some at his yard, some at the docks."_

Regina joins in then, they aren't going to lose this lead on lack of surveillance.

"He keeps boats."

"What's the name of his boat?" Robin asks Tuck, speaking into the radio.

" _Looks like the Prince Charlie, Guv."_

Robin speaks to Regina then;

"Charlie…Those times in the notebook are tide times. Jefferson's shipping in the drugs on one of his own boats." He tells Regina as she shifts around, grabbing the notebook from the glove compartment and flipping through. He speaks into the radio again.

"Everyone, round up the troops, we're heading to the docks."

Regina looks at him, triumphant smile plastered across her face now.

"I could kiss you."

He looks at her, small smile not so well hidden.

"Don't hold back."

The cars speed towards the docks, park round together in movie style fashion, the sandy ground flying up in the air, the officers exit their cars, gathering round, guns poised. Regina gets out of the car and Robin stands at the other side, watching her over the red rooftop.

"What?" She asks him.

"You, in leather." He tells her, with a grin. Regina just rolls her eyes, she'll let Robin be his 1980's self if it means she's going to get out of here. "Right, three units. I'll lead the first unit, hopefully we'll flush them into the arms of the second unit, led by my esteemed lady colleague here. Uniform, you can mop up"

"Which teams which?" Will asks.

"Uniform you're C team, DI Mills, you lead the B team. I'm the A team." Robin tells them, all macho, all bravado. Regina watches him cock his gun, dramatically.

"Lord have mercy." She mutters to herself, under her breath, turning to lead her team off to their side of the docks.

Regina approaches their viewing point, her team behind her. She can see Whale ahead of her, accompanied by a few other men she doesn't recognise, all of them working around boxes of what must be the drugs.

"Radio silence everyone." She tells the team, bringing her binoculars up to her face and watching. A car approaches the group then, before pulling up, the back seat window winding down. Whale wanders over to the car, taking a packet of the white drugs in his hand and passing it into the car. Regina sees it passed back to him and then the car door opens, and much to Regina's happiness, Jefferson gets out.

"I need Jefferson alive, understand? Alive. He's my destiny." Regina tells the other men. They don't answer, just exchange confused glances, glances Regina catches. "Sorry, not really helping is it?"

She picks up the binoculars again, watching the scene unravel before her. Sees Jefferson and Whale walk together. She pans her binoculars across, watches a tall, broad man reach into the car. He pulls out Belle, Regina takes a sharp intake of breath, sees that Belle is frightened but is fighting to stay brave, to stay strong. Regina mentally wills her to carry on, mentally sends her praises and encouragement. They're going to help her out of there. Regina's radio buzzes, she picks it up, puts it to her ear, Robin's voice crackling through;

"Right, this is the A team, we're going in."

Regina can see Will then, across the canal, he shouts to them.

"This is the police, you are surrounded." With that, he lifts his gun, points it across the water.

Suddenly, two men aim guns, and open fire towards Will. They possess machine guns, the constant drilling of rapid fire ringing through Regina's ears. Will is no match for this onslaught, Regina watches him quickly run back towards the barrels she knows Robin and John are hidden behind. Her breath catches as she watches Will dive out of sight, lucky to be alive.

Regina calls out to Robin through the radio, trying to grasp some sense of the plan now that Will has initiated a slaughter.

"Locksley, do you read me?" Regina asks to no answer. The guns continue to fire but there is no sign of Robin. "Locksley! Do you read me?"

Regina watches the men fire, still unable to see Robin or his team. She sees Belle panic, sees Jefferson grab her, and usher her towards a car. Whale quickly follows, jumping in the car as well, leaving the gun fire to continue. As the car reverses, she hears the loud bang of a gun take three shots, hitting the car, causing the bonnet to shoot up and begin to smoke. Robin, she thinks with a smile.

"Locksley, do you read me?" She tries again, having recognised his shot. Still nothing.

Regina sees Whale abandon the car, looking lost, choosing to sprint away from the scene. She gives Robin what he wants then, plays along with his game.

"B Team to the A Team. Do you read me?" She says with a sigh.

A voice comes across the radio then, Robin's.

"All teams, they're heading your way on foot. Mills, we're cut off, even I can't walk on water. Keep Jefferson in sight but do nothing."

She leads her team away, taking Robin's cue. They split up further down the canal, Regina having convinced them she can talk down Jefferson, she follows Jefferson and Belle, and the others follow Whale.

She follows them through a dark tunnel, she can hear Jefferson shout orders at Belle, forcing her to keep going, a hand wrapped around her. Once again Regina wills Belle to stay strong, to find the courage she knows she has and to stay strong. She comes face to face with Jefferson in a clearing near the canal, it's a showdown now, and Regina knows it. Not only Belle, but her own life is at stake now. She shouts him, causes him to stop and turn to face her. Regina's struck by this situation. Here they are again, Jefferson having taken someone hostage and Regina is to talk him down. He lifts his arm, gun in hand, pointing towards her. This time it's different, this time it is on Regina's terms, this time, Regina wins.

"Hello again, Jefferson." Regina greets him, confidently. "So, what happens?"

"Look this is my show. You try and follow me and I'll kill her." Jefferson says, holding Belle tightly.

Regina just lifts her gun;

"This isn't your show Jefferson, it's mine."

"I'm running this!" Jefferson shouts, causing Belle to whimper slightly at the outburst.

"I have to reclaim my destiny. Somehow, I'm going to stop you, and go home."

"What you talking about…What's she talking about?" Jefferson asks, crazed now.

"I'm facing up to you, I'm strong enough" Regina approaches him then, gun poised.

"Please Ma'am, please!" Belle cries, causing Jefferson to turn his gun towards her then, tears begin to stream down Belle's face.

"I'm strong enough to wake up." Regina tells them.

A voice comes through Regina's radio then.

"Oi! The A Team are back in business."

Regina hears humming, she looks out, looks to the canal. Suddenly, a boat is rounding the corner, at speed. Robin, Will and John on board, guns poised. Jefferson sees them too, his gun switching again to aim at them. The boat comes into their port, pulls up. Jefferson changes his mind again, his gun turning back to Regina.

"You tell them to go fishing, otherwise I blow her brains out." Jefferson warns Regina.

Robin descends the boat, having somehow claimed the machine gun from earlier, the weapon slung over his shoulder. Regina turns to him.

"Stay back! I need Jefferson alive."

"Mills!" Robin tells her, his tone warning.

"Nobody stares at me, you know that, nobody stares at me." Jefferson says, frantically, his manner turning delirious. "He's staring, he's staring."

Regina takes a step forward then, this is her fantasy, she has to do it.

"You are under arrest, for drug trafficking, abduction, and for shooting me in the head."

Suddenly Jefferson pushes Belle to the ground next to him, making his decision, leaving her to crawl away to safety. He goes to shoot his gun, Robin's reflexes proving to be faster however, starting the rapid drill of machine gun fire, shooting all around Jefferson until he tumbles to the ground, his gun lost from his grip. When he's down, Robin ceases fire, speaking with a firm tone.

"There'll be no more drug addicts made here Jefferson."

Regina hurries towards him then, his face a little bloody from shrapnel having fired up and cutting his skin, she speaks close to his face.

"You said you had an empire back in the day. Well you've had your day. You're under arrest."

She pulls him up, his front slamming against the disused barrels he was slumped against, snapping some handcuffs onto his wrists. This is it, she's done it. She looks about her, waits for this world to fade into black and for her to wake back home.

But it doesn't happen.

She shouts then, tells the sky around her.

"He's under arrest! He's under arrest."

She looks all around. Nothing. This world still feels just as real as it had the moment she woke up. She can hear Jefferson panting heavily in front of her, can hear the cars of the other police officers arriving. Can hear Belle being taken care of, Will having rushed over to check on her. Nothing. But then of course, she hadn't been the one to fully apprehend Jefferson. Robin had fired the shots that sent him to the floor, that stripped him of his weapon. That was her moment and he had taken it. She looks across the concrete around them, spots him in the now gathering crowd of officers. She stalks over, her rage simmering.

"What was that? With the machine gun? And the speed boat? Did you think that was impressive?"

Robin turns to her, steps towards her, closing the distance.

"Pardon me, I just saved your live. A simple thank you would suffice."

"You may have stopped me getting back, I was supposed to face this alone." Regina practically growls at him, her teeth bared and gritted.

"Listen your majesty, you were seconds away from death just then. It's a nasty, vicious, messed up world, but if you listen to me you just might get through it." Robin says, squaring up to her, but she doesn't back down, stays equal. In her heels they are almost nose to nose, and neither one has the upper hand. "All right, here goes. You were right, okay? About Jefferson. You have a knack for knowing how folk tick. Psychiatry."

"It's Psychology!" She corrects, not letting up.

"Same thing!" Robin cries.

"I had a plan, I wanted to go home." Regina growls again, leaning in, her eyes wide, the vein in her forehead showing.

"Well, maybe your presence is required a little bit longer round here, by me." He accents the last word with a jab of his sunglasses in her shoulder, causing her rage to boil, nearly spilling over. But before she can retaliate he turns and walks away. Something that has her even angrier, how dare he walk away from her. She looks across to him, and notices his red Audi, Belle sitting in the passenger seat, Will crouched next to her. Her rage simmers then, melting away, replaced with relief as she takes in Belle, safe and sound. She wanders over to her instead. She sees Belle suddenly lean out and pull Will into a fierce hug, surprising him. When they part, she sees Will's smile, the genuine look of happiness on his face. Then something catches Regina's eye, as it does Will. Whale. Will gives chase, catching up with him, Regina joins him, running. Whale turns around then, facing Will. Regina stops a few metres behind, lets Will take this one.

"Oh come on, there are chaps that can pull the trigger, and chaps that can't and you my friend…"

Before Whale can finish his sentence Will takes one shot from his gun, aiming it at his foot, rendering him unable to escape. A smile spreads across Regina's face. Will turns to looks at her then.

"Not nervous. Just cautious." He tells her, and her smile turns into a grin, and they walk back to Belle and the car together as uniform cuff Whale.

When she reaches Belle, she crouches next to the open car door.

"I thought I was going to die Ma'am."

"Well, you're still here Belle." Regina looks down slightly then, says quietly, "and so am I."

"I saw my life passing in front of my eyes. They say that don't they? When you die, you see all the mistakes you've ever made. In that last moment. Somewhere between life, and death." Belle tells her with a nervous laugh.

Regina gives Belle a smile, and begins to walk away, allowing Will to take her place. She thinks on Belle's words, how poignant they might be, without Belle even knowing it. Maybe this is it. These are her mistakes, and she has to fix them. Her challenge between life and death.

Later, when Regina has returned home, she turns and locks the door behind her. Reaches down, unzips her boots, her feet relishing in hitting the flat carpet. She breathes out a heavy sigh, trying to stop her head from replaying today's events over and over. Trying to rest, even just for a moment. She grabs a bottle of red wine from the kitchen counter, pours herself a glass. She takes long gulps, the bitter taste satisfying on her tongue, the liquid slipping down her throat. She places the glass back on the counter, pouring herself another helping and taking it over to the sofa, flopping down in front of the TV. She switches it on, watches the news. Still 1981 news, still wrong.

She gets through the whole programme, sipping on her wine until her second glass is drained, and abandoned on the coffee table, her eyelids feeling heavier. As the news bulletin finishes, the TV suddenly switches, goes black, the echoing sound of water coming out of it. Then, she hears Henry's voice;

 _You've just been shot. A second ago._

Regina's eyes go wide, she stares at the TV in disbelief. She slides off the sofa, crawls towards it, almost in a trance.

 _You're lying on the wet ground. Don't try to wake up. It'll hurt too much._

Regina feels it again, the overwhelming nausea, as she fights to keep her eyes on the TV. She sees the picture change from black to a faint orange glow. A glow that turns into candles, Henry's face coming into focus, before going black again.

 _You'll never make it to his birthday party._

"Henry?" Regina breathes out, continuing to approach the TV. "I'm so sorry."

 _All those memories._

Suddenly the TV shows a car, an explosion, a flash of light and smoke.

Regina knows this, she recognises this.

"Mother?"

"Daddy?"

Regina's breath is heavy, tears beginning to stream, uncontrollably. Then Henry's voice again.

 _But it doesn't have to hurt._

Regina frantically presses at the buttons of the TV, using every strength to find some way to turn it off, to stop the pain. Her tears blur her vision, her fingers working blindly, the noise of water getting louder and louder until it deafens her. Finally she is able to find the button to switch it off and the noise stops. She leans back on her heels, her body slumping over, feeling emotionally drained. The tears stop, her hands helping her eyes come back into focus as she lets her emotions out. She breathes deeply, in and out. She feels raw, every emotion she has built and built while she has been here having been wrung out now. When she lifts her head, she looks around her, looks at the apartment, her current home.

She pulls herself up, grabs the voice recorder she had brought back to the flat along with a single police radio. Bits of technology she had planned to try and get some sort of contact with home from. She walks to the mirror on the wall, takes in her appearance. Fashions a more composed look on her face, becomes Regina Mills again. She brings the voice recorder up to her mouth, and speaks.

"My name is Regina Mills. I've just been shot and that bullet has sent me back to 1981. I may be one second away from life, or one second away from death. They say that as you die, your life flashes before you. All those memories, and mistakes that form us." Regina thinks of her parents, then composes herself once more, and continues. "Well bring it on. My life can flash away as much as it wants, because I am not going to die." Tears fill her eyes again, her strength slipping. "I'm coming back to you, Henry." She clicks off the recorder, brings her mouth to her lips, her eyes closing shut. She imagines Henry, the last time she saw him. She blows a kiss, sees him catch it, but, when she opens her eyes she's once again greeted with her own reflection in the mirror, and he's still gone.

* * *

 **Thoughts? x**


End file.
